Gravestone - Back to Attack (Germany 1985)

Rare MP3 Album Of The Week.

Like their later album I reviewed recently, this set of 80s Heavy Metal is a well played and well produced but somewhat formulaic collection. Possibly finding it slightly less enjoyable than the other one and not all that inspired to give it too much attention at present. Some good rockin moments and ok tunes and again was more impressed with it when I first heard it a couple of years back, but it is one of those albums that sounds quite impressive on first listens but soon shows its self not to be something that gets better with familiarity. Rating 2/5.

3rd Avenue Blues Band - Fantastic (USA 1970)

Rare Mp3 Album Of The Week

Rose Garden

It’s Got To Be Love

I Know About Love

Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Hawk’s Blues

Don’t Make Me Laugh

Come And Get It

It’s Your Thing

If You Don’t Want Me

Bad Moon Rising

Mean Greens

This starts off a little slow with some average covers, certainly played well, indicating the quality of this groups playing. The covers are instantly recognisable, "Rose Garden" not one I care for a lot. The next track is much better with a second vocalist who has a familiar sounding voice and the music is firmly in the Blood, Sweat & Tears school of Pop-Rock and also sounds like something The Blues Brothers would do. After another couple of well executed but not outstanding covers things take a decisive turn for the better with a great "Super Session" Blues number in "Hawks' Blues, followed by a classic Blood, Sweat & Tears sounding  funky number in "Don't Make Me Laugh" Things stay brilliantly Blusy, Jazzy and funky on "Come and get it and I'm not sure of any of the last three tracks are originals or covers, but they are impressive to say the least. "It's Your Thing" keeps up the relentless tempo of great music before they slow things down again with what I believe is another cover. "Bad Moon Rising" is the best cover here as the actually do something slightly different from the original and pull it off well. The album finishes on a high with a great jazzy instrumental that is most impressive and the Sax is great. Overall a pretty good listen with the music getting much better on the later part of the album when things get more uptempo and funky. Rating 4/5.

GANRYU ISLAND - Michihiro Sato and John Zorn (USA 1984)

The John Zorn Discography no.8

1/ Ryu Kyu Heishi (Warrior from Ryu Kyu)6:09
2/ Haguregumo (The Wanderer)14:10
3/ Two Ronin 3:49
4/ Kagemusha 10:39
5/ Odori Dayu (Evening Dance of a Courtesan)5:16
6/ Ganryu Island 11:09
7/ Yoshiwara Kaidan (Ghosts of the Geisha District)3:30
8/ Natsu Matsuri
9/ Giri
10/ Yonaka No Hatashiai
11/ Uma No Koku
12/ Tsugaru Bushido

Recorded in New York City on November 23, 1984

Michihiro Sato: shamisen; John Zorn: reeds.

This time we actually have something approximating music on this collaboration with  Michihiro Sato, who plays a Japanese string instrument called a shamisen ,which is a familiar sound as it certainly evokes visions of the orient. But really what we have here is Zorn doing his usual weirdness on his sax similar to the previous "... Staratgy" album with Sato playing along behind him. Again slightly interesting for a few minutes but wears thin quite quickly. Another album I am glad to have been able to hear before I brought a copy. Still Progress is being made towards some great music in the not to distant future. Rating 1.5/5.

THE CLASSIC GUIDE TO STRATEGY, VOLUME ONE - John Zorn (USA 1983)

The John Zorn Discography no.7

1/ Senki (War Spirit)(Zorn)19:40
2/ The Moon In The Cold Stream Like A Mirror (Zorn)19:43

ecorded at the OAO Studio in Brooklyn, New York on February 27, 1983

John Zorn: alto, soprano, clarinets, game calls.

So This time John goes it alone on this first volume of "The Classic Guide to

Strategy" and if we were expecting anything different from what John had already

been releasing music wise then this is most disappointing. John gives his sax a

very hard time coaxing out of it all sorts of weird sounds the the original designers

probably didn't expect it to make, he even plays it under water at points. All

this weirdness sounds quite pointless and apart from the occasional interesting

sound, this all gets pretty tedious pretty quick. As usual for this stage of His

carreer there is no melody or conventional song structure here just random

sounding noises. I guess John had to go through this stage to prepare him for

all the fabulas music he would go on to make later, but I am glad I am able to

find this stuff on the internet to sample first as I would be most disappointed

to actually buy this and than find out what was actually on the recorded later.I

am also disappointed with this particular record as it has been praised in the

past. I wonder what sort of drugs they were on? Rating 1/5.

Derek Bailey, George Lewis and John Zorn - Yankees (USA 1983)

The John Zorn Discography no.6

 1/ City City City   8:22

 2/ The Legend Of Enos Slaughter  9:17

 3/ Who's On First 2:56

 4/ On Golden Pond  18:00

 5/ The Warning Track  5:28

 Recorded at OAO Studio, Brooklyn

Derek Bailey: guitars; George Lewis: trombone; John Zorn: alto, soprano,

clarinets, game calls.

John had no trouble finding like minded people to play the same type of weird music(and I use that term in its  most loosest sense)He seemed to prefer back in his early days. I have chosen to add this into my coverage of John's Discography as He had his name amongst the credits for this release and I was familiar with it from several discographies where it is mentioned, but from what I have read, John was a junior collaborator on this which is more of a vehicle for the more senior Bailey. In saying that though, the music presented here doesn't sound out of place amongst his previous game pieces, so more avant-garde improvised weirdness with very little in the way of melody or song structure and frankly bores the crap out of me. Looking forward to getting into some real music from John in the near future.Rating 1/5.

John Zorn - Archery (USA 1981)

The John Zorn Discography no.4

 1/ no title                                 (Zorn)                  20:48
 2/ no title                                 (Zorn)                  20:21
 3/ no title                                 (Zorn)                  24:00
 4/ no title                                 (Zorn)                  23:42

 Recorded at the OAO Studio in Brooklyn, New York on September 12 and 13,
    1981
 
Robert Dick: flutes, game calls; George Lewis: trombone; John Zorn: alto,
soprano, clarinets, game calls; Anthony G. Coleman: organ, electric piano;
Wayne B. Horvitz: Farfisa organ, harmonica, tape, electronics; Mark Kramer:
cheap organ, tapes, synthesizer; Eugene Chadbourne: guitars; Bill Horvitz:
guitar; Bill Laswell: bass; Polly Bradfield: violin; Tom Cora: cello; David
Moss: drums, voice, percussion; Mark Smith: prompter.

1982 - Parachute Records (USA), P017/18 (2xLP)
1997 - Tzadik (USA), TZ 7316 (7xCD)
2001 - Tzadik (USA), TZ 7316 (3xCD)
2001 - Tzadik (USA), TZ 7316-4 (3xCD)

See THE PARACHUTE YEARS 1977-1980 (1997) or ARCHERY (2001) for unreleased
takes from the Archery session.

Not a lot to say about this lot, more of the same as the previous Game pieces and more of the same unlistenable noise, although there are some interesting sounds being produced, it wears thin very quickly.Rating 1/5.

VA - Ladies Sing The Blues (USA 1920's and 1930's) (UK Release 1996)

Off The Shelf'

I have quite a few of these budget blues compilations although most of them are of the men folk doing the early delta stuff. The Women of the Blues were a different kettle of fish though.  Whereas the men were recorded mostly solo with acoustic guitar and sometimes piano, the Women had a bit more musical backing and for me have more of a Jazz sound. I think that this music was the forerunner of Jazz vocals and the later Jazz pop. Several of the Ladies on this compilation went on to have long and distinguished careers, Like Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters and of course Billie Holiday. Ma Rainey and  Bessie Smith were two of the earliest and most successful blues singers. Most of this music was recorded in the 1920s and 30s so the recordings are pretty rough in places.  This is an historically interesting set but I prefer the Delta blues of the Men, although there are some good tunes here and some pretty raunchy lyrics. There are some well known songs on this set, like "Trouble In Mind" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" and any Led Zeppelin fan will recognise Memphis Minnie's "When The Levee Breaks". Its quite fascinating listening to these old songs and I am quite enjoying this in small doses.  Rating 3/5. 

Patrick Gibson - We, Him and Just Me (Australia 198?)

Mutant Sounds Album Of The Week.

I will dispense with this one fairly quickly as it isn't worth spending much time with. Some minimal synth and other 80s sounding tracks mixed with some drones and other bits and pieces. A  mostly quite uninspiring  set of unreleased recordings, rating 2/5 for some interesting noises but its time to move onto something better. 

John Zorn - Pool (USA 1980)

The John Zorn Discography no.3

    1/ Pool                                     (Zorn)                  51:12
    
    Recorded at Sorcerer Sound Studio, New York City on March 1, 1980
    
  Polly Bradfield: violin; Mark E. Miller: percussion, contact microphones,
  vibraphone; Charles K. Noyes: percussion, saw, khene; Bob Ostertag: elec-
  tronics (Serge); John Zorn: alto, soprano, Bb clarinets, game calls; Lesli
  Dalaba: prompter.

    2/ Hockey (first version)                   (Zorn)                  11:16
    
    Recorded at Dick Charles Studio (by Les Paul, Jr.) on March 4, 1980

  Eugene Chadbourne: electric guitar, personal effects; Wayne Horvitz: ampli-
  fied piano; Bob Ostertag: electronics (Serge).

    3/ Hockey (second version, take 2)          (Zorn)                   3:42
    4/ Hockey (second version, take 5)          (Zorn)                   2:43
    5/ Hockey (second version, take 8)          (Zorn)                   0:50
    6/ Hockey (second version, take 10)         (Zorn)                   0:59

    Recorded at Sorcerer Sound Studio, New York City on March 1, 1980

  Polly Bradfield: violin; Mark E. Miller: percussion; John Zorn: goose, duck 
  and crow calls, clarinet mouthpiece.

    1980 - Parachute Records (USA), P011/12 (2xLP)
    1997 - Tzadik (USA), TZ 7316 (7xCD)
    2000 - Tzadik (USA), TZ 7316-3 (CD)

  Note: the 1xCD reissue only contains (1).

  See THE PARACHUTE YEARS 1977-1980 (1997) for unreleased takes from the
  Hockey session.

The above information was taken from the John Zorn Discography.

I have tried to give this a serious listen and I don't have a problem with music

 with plenty of weird sounds etc, but this is almost unlistenable. As much as I

 love John Zorn's music, his early game pieces are hardly what I call music. I

 know these are games that the musicians play and I'm sure that they have plenty

 of fun playing them, from what I have seen on videos but I am not sure why he 

 ever actually recorded them. Wether or not I actually understand how this system 

works and the rules doesn't make this any more enjoyable to listen to. There is a 

lot of space in there pieces between short bursts of the musicians making their

 instruments make all sorts of noises. The version I was listening was from the 

Parachute years box set, So I'm not entirely sure how that fits with the particular

 recording above, except there are a lot more takes on the CD set.
The First version of Hockey I could almost get into with its electronic noises and

 it was a more compact piece than the others. But I just can't listen to the rest 

of this stuff. I would like to see "Cobra" played live just to try and see this 

sort of thing in the flesh and that is his most famous Game piece, but if your new 

to Zorn's music, stay well away from this stuff.Rating 1/5.  

VA - Next Stop... Soweto Vol 2. Soultown. R&B, Funk & Psyc Sounds From The Townships 1969-1976 (Strut 2010)

Off The Shelf

Oh Yeah, Strut have done it again, as with the other two volumes in this set, Strut records have managed to piece together another absolutely fantastic set of rare South African gems.
This arrived in my mailbox several months ago and after a few initial listens where I didn't feel as impressed as I did with Volumes 1 and 3, it got shelved in favour of other new CD arriving. So I wasn't overly excited when it presented itself for this weeks CD review, but on that first listen, as I was now slightly more familiar with the music, it had a far greater impact on me this time round and it has been a real grooving soundtrack to my after dinner clean-ups and other inside chores. This lot is a lot closer in spirit to the West African Afro funk I love so much. The album is kinda like the "Nuggets" of South Africa, but with less of the garage and more of the funk/jazz and psychedelic tones that sound so bloody good when mixed with native African music, it somewhat reminds be of the later Acid Jazz music from the early 90s. Chock full of wonderful vocal melodies and some utterly fantastic guitar playing, I have just fallen head over heals for this compilation. Highly recommended. Rating 5+/5.

John Zorn - Locus Solus (USA 1983)

The John Zorn Discography no.5

This looks to be John Zorn's first release that is not one of his Game Pieces although musically it sounds like it fits in well with the style of those earlier pieces. I have had this CD for a considerable time but due to the difficult nature of the music, I haven't given it a lot of attention. This set of 38 short pieces was recorded during 3 different sessions with a different line up on each occasion and you can notice the differences between each session. The first set I don't enjoy as much mainly due to the slightly treated vocals/narrative which sounds a little creepy to me. I find the third set to be more interesting with some impressive sounds seeping out of the musical chaos. Like most of John Zorn's early stuff there isn't much here in the way of conventional tunes or melody. It is very experimental and avant-garde. There are rewards for careful attention to the complex detail but it doesn't sit too well foe casual listening and can be quite a task to sit through the whole lot at one sitting. I do find many of the pieces stand up well isolated on their own when I hear them played on a Zorn Mix playlist and I have always enjoyed this album more than the earlier game pieces.Rating 2.5/5.

Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra - Angels and Demons at Play (USA 1963)

Sun Ra Album Of The Week.

Side A:

"Tiny Pyramids" (Ronnie Boykins) – 3:38

"Between Two Worlds" – 1:56

"Music from the World Tomorrow" – 2:20

"Angels and Demons at Play" (Boykins) – 2:51

Side B:

"Urnack" (Julian Priester) – 3:46

"Medicine for a Nightmare" – 2:16

"A Call for All Demons" – 4:12

"Demon's Lullaby" – 2:35

Things sound pretty loose on some of these tracks as we jump ahead a bit with the recording dates for side one being from 1960 and side two back again to 56'. The album itself was released sometime later in the 60s and my CD copy comes paired up with "The Sound Sun Pleasure" and "We Travel The Space Ways" albums. There is a noticeable difference between the two sides with the 56' set being more swinging, like his other earlier stuff and the band sound much tighter and more conventional, I like it better than the later side which is more Ra sounding but the selection isn't what I'd call the best, sounding much looser and the music more demanding to stay focussed with. With the two recording dates so far apart it makes for an historical comparison but an uneven listen. Rating 2.5/5.

Tako - Tako (Japan 1983)

Mutant Sounds Album Of the Week.

\

Hmm, Not sure about this one, parts of it just don't grab me at all and so those that I had heard during the week inspired me to keep skipping listening to this and going for other albums in this weeks playlist. The set doesn't start off at all well with the opening track sounding like someone being sexually tortured. The album is a real schizophrenic affair and THIS description from Mutant Sounds describes it a lot better than I can.  Still , in amongst the screaming and caterwauling and other weird sounds there are occasional moments of shear brilliance. Actually in places this sounds like a weirder Japanese version of The Mekons early works and other English Post Punk indie bands from around the same period as this was released, thinking Delta 5 or maybe a touch of the Raincoats with more wild avant-garde sax. On closer inspection, there are more interesting moments than I first thought, although this isn't something I would choose to spend a lot of time with. Typically Japanese(If there is such a thing) and gets a rating of 2.5/5.

Aaron Space - Aaron Space (Canada 1972)

Rare Mp3 Album Of the Week.

This was one of the first unknown bands I discovered on the Rare MP3 Blog and it is still one of the best.

Its a pretty straight up pop/rock effort with tinges of country and even jazz. Chocked full of great melodic ditties its is classic 70s pop of my favourite kind with plenty of cool guitar hooks and some cool singing. Highly recommended and I just wish I could actually find it on CD. Rating 4/5.

Flux Of Pink Indians - Strive to Survive, Causing the Least Suffering Possible (Uk 1982)

Latest new Arrival from Amazon

I have already reviewed this album on my blog but just thought I'd give it another plug cos I like it so much and age hasn't dulled its edge. This also sounds good on CD blasting through the Cyrus after it arrive in my mail box this week, an interlude form Zorn and Ra.

Sun Ra - Sound Of Joy (USA Delmark DS-414 (1968))

Sun Ra Album Of The Week.

So I have moved away from trying to review these early Ra sets in chronological order by release dates due to the discographies listing by earliest recording dates. This set recently arrived from Amazon and was originally recorded as far back as 56'or 57' but not released until 68' on Delmark with this CD also being a Delmark release from 94'.

This early Ra music is growing and growing on me as I get more familiar with it and  although He recorded a considerable amount of music prior to 1960 I am really finding that I am digging all that I have listened to so far. This swinging set took a bit to register with me, it wasn't love at first sight like his first album but I am now enjoying the playing here immensely. Ra's Arkestra wasn't always the tightest unit around but I kinda like their loose feel and it suits Ra's unique style of jazz well. Another worthwhile addition to my Ra collection and gets a rating of 4/5.

Painkiller - Guts Of A Virgin (USA 1991)

John Zorn Album Of The Week.

Many moons ago I read a review of this album in the NME and was intrigued enough to check it out once I finally got my hands on a copy. This is Zorn at his most hardcore. Imagine Jazzthrash, played mostly at breakneck speed, a very heavy wall of noise which John pulls off quite well. Another of Zorn's releases that ain't easy listening and although I am fascinated by this music and find it enjoyable enough, It is not something I revisit a lot. Like most Zorn music, focussed listening is essential to getting the most out of it and it is all over in about 30 minutes. Zorn's sax playing is awesome. Rating 3/5.

Eugene Chadbourne and John Zorn - School (USA 1978)

The John Zorn Discography no.2

This is John Zorn's first credited release in collaboration with Eugene Chadbourne and was released on Eugene's Parachute Label. Zorn Co-wrote one track with Eugene on the first disc and the second disc is taken up with 3 takes of his Lacrosse game piece. This release is quite interesting listening of early Zorn and noticing how much influence Eugene had on John. The Chadbourne tracks are all very avant-garde noise works with little in the way of melody and are challenging listening. Zorn's Game pieces sound similar to what  is on the first disc, which makes for sonic continuity of the whole set, although John's pieces have much more space and more sounds effects.  There are some interesting sounds happening here but this is not easy listening.The liner notes are an interesting read on early Zorn also so I have posted them here of your reading pleasure. Rating 2/5.

The Frank Lowe Orchestra - Lowe and Behold (USA 1977)

The John Zorn Discography No.1

With all the John Zorn I have been purchasing and reviewing lately I have been using a fabulously detailed discography(Here) to help with the earlier recordings of the man in question. The very first entry in that discography is this obscure album which was the first publically available recording with John Zorn on it. It isn't his earliest recordings, those were self recorded efforts from the early 70s and were not released until the 90s. So I thought, while I have been buying my way backwards through Zorn's discography and also his latest releases,  I might also start at the other end of his career as well, like I have been doing with Sun Ra, and meet somewhere in the middle. I chose to start with this album as it is the very first one in the very large John Zorn Discography even though it wasn't under his name or contains any of his own compositions  that would be the next release. After this I won't be focussing on any of the albums He only played on, instead just the ones that were released under his own name or contain his own compositions. Although there are several corroborations that are worthy of attention in the Zorn catalogue.

  This music actually sits pretty well in the Zorn cannon, a live recording of free jazz/improv that is ok but not really essential listening although I am enjoying it more than I thought I would. Not too bad an effort for this kind of music.Rating 2.5/5 

Elm - Bxogonoas (USA 2008)

Mutant Sounds Album Of The Week

I am not a great fan of most types of ambient, drone, noise, or whatever. This set verges on the industrial side of things in places but has some quieter more subtle moments which lend it the ambience tone. I have enjoyed this one more than I thought I would and it hasn't been at all unpleasant as it has droned away in the background while I have been reading. Not something I would spend time with in more focussed listening. There are some quite nice guitar noodlings inter-weaved into some of these soundscapes that caught my attention that have elevated this recording to get a rating of 3/5. 

Charlie Parker - The Saxophone Player (USA(UK Release 2001))

Off the shelf.

A budget compilation I picked up from The Warehouse to sample some of the great man's music. Unfortunately this is not a good place to start with Parkers music. There is no information as to when this stuff was recorded but I imagine it was sometime in the 40s. The sound quality is pretty awful and although there is some good playing here, He sure could play fast, I really haven't connected with this set. Not sure if this is some of his better tunes or if this is the dregs dug up by this label to get cheap product on the shelf or if perhaps I just don't relate to this music, I certainly like Be-bop as a form of jazz, but not necessary all who play it. My rating 2/5.

Nutz - Nutz Too (UK 1975)

Rare MP3 Album Of The Week

A quick review to get this one off my playlist. Looked promising, mid 70s hard rock. Some nice guitar parts spread over this set and they mix it up with some slower numbers, and a Zeppelin riff on R.S.D, but overall I find this all a little underwhelming and fails to grab me.Rating 2/5.

The Family Dogg - A Way Of Life (UK 1969)

Uncle Roddus Rare MP3 Album Of The Week.

01. A Way Of Life (4:05)

02. Arizona (2:46)

03. Sympathy (3:21)

04. Julie's Just Gone (2:57)

05. The Storm (2:44)

06. I'll Wear A Silly Grin (3:26)

07. Brown Eyed Girl (3:23)

08. Love Minus Zero (3:01)

09. When Tomorrow Comes Tomorrow (3:49)

10. Coat Of Many Colours (3:24)

11. Sweet America (5:54)

12. Riker's Island (3:45)

13. In The Ghetto (3:10)

14. Child Of Clay (4:11)

15. Save The Life Of My Child (3:22)

16. So Sad (2:39)

17. Run Run Run Fly Fly Fly (2:42)

18. I Wonder (3:11)

19. Like Janis (2:41)

20. Bethel Town Mission (2:59)

21. A Swing Don't Swing (4:00)

22. Uptown Uptempo Woman (4:01)

Late 60s sunshine pop from the UK, I didn't think much of this lot on initial listening, It's quite lightweight in places and pretty commercial with several songs I knew, although a considerable amount of these songs are cover versions. This particular version is more of a compilation, with the original albums tracks in a random order mixed in with several singles and B-sides etc.. After further listens several songs started to reveal their subtleties and good melodies even when sounding like something of one of those 70s Solid Gold Compilations. Two songs do stand out above the rest and I believe both are covers, "Sympathy" and "Rikers Island" are different but are excellent highlights. A few other things, like some lovely sax melodies and wonderful vocal harmonies also make for several noticeable moments but the rest is fairly average, overall rating 2.5/5.

John Zorn - Lemma (USA 2013)

John Zorn Album Of The Week

John's latest release arrived recently with them coming thick and fast as they did last year. It astounds me as to the amount of work this guy gets through. A Classical set of compositions for solo violin and two violins. Like Zorn's Sax playing these pieces allow the players to tax their instruments to the very limits if producing coherent sounds and quite a few not so coherent noises. It makes one wonder how they got these violins to make some of the sounds they produce. As with John's classical works this is not an easy listen in places and is routed firmly in the Avant-garde. Still, it is an interesting listen to focus on the outstanding playing of the musicians involved. Don't expect much in the way of melodic tunes from this lot but I don't mind it and will rate it 3/5.

Sun Ra - The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra (USA 1961)

Sun Ra Album Of The Week

I have been trying to review My Sun Ra albums in the order they were originally released and I believe this album was the next one to come out after "Jazz In Silhouette", but as I have already mentioned previously the discographies I refer to list the releases by earliest recording date on that particular album. After this, his fourth album, things get a little more confusing as a considerable number of releases in the sixties after this one were of recordings pre-dating  the recordings on this album. This particular release came to me in the Box set I recently purchased. This album has taken a while to seep into my consciousness but I am enjoying it now more than when I first heard it. On casual listens it tends it sound like it is meandering a bit but on closer inspection there is plenty here of interest and Ra is still developing his sound as we get the usual mix of big band swing but with a more bop and even more of his Egyptian sounding compositions such as the percussion dominated "New Day" . The vocal tracks are more mellow and are my least favourite numbers although Mrs. Roddus prefers them. Not a set that captures me immediately but another worthwhile addition to my Sun Ra Collection. Rating 3.5/5 

Throbbing Gristle - Greatest Hits (UK 1980)

Uncle Roddus CD of The Week

Pulled this one off the shelf for review this week and boy I'm glad I did. Haven't enjoyed one of my older CDs this much for some time. Plenty of classics on this compilation set of definitely not greatest hits but definitely some of their best music. Somewhat more sedate than their live sets, this collection shows that they actually did have some pop hooks hidden away in the sludge as well as some quite beautiful moments for those who really listen. A kind of  mixed bag with the style of music here with the normal industrial soundscapes mixed in with some quite poppy 80s electro which are superbly recorded or remixed on this CD. Industrial walls of sound like the amazing "Hamberger lady" still sound astonishing to me after all these years and completely justify my exploration of TG's music. This has really stood the test of time and I'm gonna stop dribbling on about it now, rate it 5+/5, stick on the head phones and crank it up. 

Helgoland and Band - 99 (Germany 1999)

Uncle Roddus Mutant Sounds Album Of The Week.

99 songs in 31 minutes. This is something that should appeal to anyone who digs John Zorn's Painkiller or Naked City Bands. These short sonic blasts are a mix of hardcore thrash and avant garde electronica and have a more Japanese feel to them than German. I am not a great fan of this stuff but these guys and gals actually make a good fist of it and there is plenty to keep one interested. Absolutely no commercial potential.

Rating 2.5/5.

Hilltop to Little River - 31 March 2013

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary: Tramp No. 136

Hilltop to Little River - 31 March 2013

Back again on Banks Peninsular, not too far from last weeks adventures for this interesting Club trip. A 20KM trip along the tops from Pettigrews Road mostly following the summit road track through several reserves and passing just below Mounts Sinclair and Fitzgerald and across Waipuna Saddle before hitting the Western valley Rd. The day was fine and warm but a bit blustery as we travelled through patches of regenerating native bush open grassy ridges and some interesting old Totora forest grave yards where we encountered the corpses of many large Totora trees that had been cut down and burnt possibly over 100 years ago. After crossing the Western valley Road we continued along the Summit Walkway to Kaituna Spur Reserve before we headed off track to swing around above Bachelors Rd and headed back down to the car at Montgomerys road after crossing through some private land owned by a Club member. A most enjoyable hike with great views of the bays and areas I am quite familiar with but had not seen from that perspective. Unfortunately Mrs. Roddus had my camera this weekend so there are no photos.